All three of our fliers came prepared.
Paul and Dave spent more than a week
working together in Napa, California,
before departing. Orestes is well known
for his arduous practice schedule, and
the weeks leading up to the contest were
certainly no exception.

It was clear to me that these men
wanted to win the team gold as much as
the individual honors. It showed in how
they supported each other throughout
the week and in how they celebrated
afterward. All three men are class acts. It
was a treat to hang out with them and
help where I could.

The first two days were qualifying
rounds. Each contestant flew twice
on each circle in front of two sets of
judges. The contestants’ high score from
each circle was combined to create
the individual qualifying scores. The
15 contenders with the highest scores
moved on to the finals.

The finals included three rounds
throughout two days on one circle in
front of one panel of judges. The two
highest scores for each contestant were
combined for the final placings.

The intrigue lies in the flight order,
the time of day you fly, and trying to
decipher what the judges are looking
for—not to mention the inevitable
associated mind games with which each
flier must contend.

No matter how much you prepare,
there are always elements of your
pattern that can be improved and our
contestants were no exception. What
is remarkable to me is the openness to
constructive criticism that they each
embodied. There was relatively little to
say, but when it was said, they listened.

It was apparent to me that there
would be roughly 10 pilots to watch,
including our three fliers: Igor Burger
from Slovakia, Richard Kornmeier from
Germany, Marco Valliera from Italy,
and a few others. It was very interesting
to watch the contest unfold. Although
each of these pilots brought something
unique to the table, a common thread
was hard corners and bottoms that
were never above 5 feet, and often
substantially lower.

It appeared to me that technology
advances with the electric crowd,
including the use of accelerometers, has
resulted in a pattern that is changing